Transmitting electricity across continents, especially under the ocean, presents immense challenges that make it a project for the future, not the present.

• Extreme Distances: The vast distances across oceans (e.g., the Atlantic is over 3,000 km wide) are a major hurdle. Power cables lose energy over distance, and manufacturing a single, continuous cable of that length is a monumental task.

• HVDC Technology: HVAC (Alternating Current) is not suitable for long subsea cables due to high capacitance losses. HVDC is the only viable solution, but it requires expensive and complex converter stations at both ends to transition to and from the local AC grids.

• Environmental and Political Hurdles: Laying cables on the seabed is a complex operation with environmental impacts. Furthermore, such projects require unprecedented levels of international political cooperation, agreements on power trading, and a framework for financial responsibilities.

Our Role in Intercontinental Projects